Chapter 20: Falco (Ace Pilot)
Venom
The sky was covered in smog and the weather was hazy. The volcanic ground mixed with the toxic surface and vast, green acidic oceans has proved to nearly everyone in the Lylat System that this Planet is way too dangerous to travel on. It was rumored that no one would survive on this Planet if they were sent to it, but Fox's greatest enemy; Andross has proven them wrong as he managed to influence the primitive inhabitants into the Venomian Army. He once had all the power and intelligent to rule the Lylat System, but Fox has stopped him and destroyed him multiple times; saving the galaxy from Andross' evil intentions. Years have gone by since his final defeat and the Army he had once made had begun to diminish. The planet went back to the silence it once had before the Lylat Wars, but for the past few months... there have been sounds of flying aircraft's in the sky. The smog broke away for a moment and revealed two Wolfen aircraft's and one Arwing. The Arwing looked exactly like False Fox's; but with some damage on it. The two pilots in the Wolfen aircraft's were Pigma Dengar and Andrew Oikonny. These two used to be on team Star Wolf a long time ago, but were kicked out years later for unknown reasons. Deep inside their hearts, they have a hatred for their former leader; Wolf O'Donnell and they wish to take him down if he ever returns to Venom.
Along with their hatred for Wolf, they still kept their hatred for Star Fox; who has defeated them multiple times too. They flew around the area and looked at the Arwing behind them; knowing of their leader. As they looked at it, their eyes began glowing yellow and their uniforms turned dark violet/magenta. They turned back and began flying again. Their leader followed suit and revealed himself to be False Falco; wearing the same color as they did but in Falco's uniform. He blinked his yellow eyes once and then the sclera of his eyes turned light blue. He stared at the smoggy sky for a moment and then began catching up to his allies; ready for battle.
Outside Venom's Orbit
Meanwhile near Venom, the Cornerian Army had arrived at the Planet's orbit; ready for a potential attack. Peppy and General Pepper were inside the new Great Fox, along with Slippy and Krystal. The four were planning of how to attack and then saw a portal open nearby. The Army was ready to attack, but General Pepper stopped them; knowing of the Ships coming through it. "Stand down, everyone... it's Fox McCloud and his friends." said General Pepper. Our Ships flew upto the Cornerian Army and stayed by them; wondering what they're doing here. "Putting Fox and his friends on the screen now, sir." said one of the soldiers. He pressed the communicator button and saw Fox, Bowser, Mario, and Captain Falcon on the screens; seeing us on the different Ships with them. "General Pepper, Peppy, Slippy, and Krystal... long time no see." said Fox. "Same goes to you and your friends, Fox. I assume you know why you're here, yes?" General Pepper replied. "Yes sir. To find Falco Lombardi... according to what Peppy told Taylor, Falco's Trophy was found on Venom in False Falco's possession. After hearing that, I decided to come up with a plan with my leader here to go in our Arwings, go into Venom, and chase down False Falco; retrieving Falco's Trophy in the process." Fox replied as he put his hand on my shoulder.
"Hm... a good plan you got there, Fox; but that leads to a small problem." General Pepper replied. "Why's that?" I replied. "We just found that False Falco has some back-up. And now just any back-up... he's got both Pigma Dengar and Andrew Oikonny with him." said Peppy. "What!? How the hell did they join him!?" Fox replied in shock. "We don't know, but whatever power False Falco has... it seemed to influence those two." Peppy replied. Fox looked away and sighed angrily of the thought of his former two enemies fighting alongside our enemy. I looked at him for a moment and then turned back to the screen; seeing General Pepper and Peppy concerned about Fox. "What do you suggest we do, General?" I asked. "I would go along with the plan Fox made... but I suggest that you have some back-up as well. Maybe Samus can help you two out." General Pepper replied. "How? My Ship's engine is still messed up from the battle in Corneria." said Samus. "No need to worry, Samus... I'm sending Slippy there right now to fix that engine and your Gunship will ready to go!" Peppy replied. "Heh, thanks Peppy." Samus replied happily. "Anytime, once your Ship is set... you three will set off to Venom and rescue Falco." Peppy replied. "Got it." Samus and I replied. After that, the call ended and Slippy came to the Ship; fixing Samus's Ship.
Inside the Great Fox
"And all set!" said Slippy. "Thank you, Slippy. The Ship looks great." Samus complimented. "You're welcome! Anything to help a friend of Fox!" Slippy replied happily. We said our goodbyes to him and he went back to the new Great Fox. Samus got inside her Ship and started it. Once it started, all of the baby Metroids appeared and flew inside the Ship; crying happily to its sound. I walked upto my Arwing and jumped inside it. I hooked up my Slate to it and began Falco's Trophy again. "Taylor? Samus? You two here?" said a voice. The two of us looked out and we saw that it was Fox walking upto us. We left our entrances open as he looked at us. "I want to apologize for the way I acted during the call with my friends. It was completely out of character of me acting like that." Fox apologized. "Fox, it's okay. You were just stressed; we understand." Samus replied. "Really?" Fox replied as he walked upto his Arwing. "Of course. None of us like to face our foes from time to time; especially during times like this. We completely understand of how you feel." Samus replied.
Fox blinked his eyes in shock, stared at us for a moment, and then nodded his head in thanks. "Thanks, Samus. I'm glad to hear that from you." Fox replied. Samus nodded her head to his response and then turned to me; seeing a serious look in my eyes as I looked at my Slate. Fox jumped into his Arwing and saw the same look in my eyes; wondering what I see. "You okay?" Fox asked me. I lightly jumped in surprise and looked at both of my allies; seeing curious looks on their faces. "Y-yeah... I'm fine, but why did you scare me like that?" I asked. "Sorry about that... we were just wondering what you were doing, That was all." Fox replied. "Oh... I... uh..." I said. "Just tracking Falco's Trophy?" Fox asked me. I blinked my eyes and nodded my head yes to his question. "Good... 'cause you're going to be the one to go after False Falco." Fox replied. "Wait what!?" I replied in shock. "All the Shadow Bugs that made him are only going to after you, right? If you distract False Falco and give his Arwing some damage... we all can lead him out of the Planet's orbit and take him down together!" Fox replied.
"But how are we supposed to get Falco's Trophy if it's in the Arwing?" Samus asked us. "Taylor can use Magnesis from her Slate to catch his Trophy and we can bring him back here, revive him, and let him know the situation." Fox replied. "Okay... but how will he react when we have to rescue Wolf?" Samus asked again. "Eh, he'll be fine. Besides... I like it when they argue with each other." Fox replied. "Saves you time from being near him." I added. "You said it." Fox replied. After that, the three of us closed our ships entrances, flew out of the Great Fox, and flew down into Venom's orbit; knowing of what's ahead. When we flew into orbit, everyone else began following us without our permission(probably thanks to General Pepper).
Venom
We flew in the skies for a couple minutes silently as we searched for our ally. I took the lead as we flew around a volcanic area. After another couple minutes, my eyes began to glow; sensing a dark presence. I looked at my Slate and saw three objects flying towards us. "Guys... we have company." I said. Fox and Samus checked their scanners and saw the three objects I saw for the first time. "It's them." said Samus. "Yep... and False Falco is in the middle of them. You ladies ready?" Fox replied. "Ready." I replied. "Ready." Samus replied. After that, we flew up high for a moment, flew back down, and began firing our lasers at them. The three foes began their attacks as well and we began our aerial battle. We kept on firing lasers and Smart Bombs on each other as we kept on chasing each other. He managed to hit a couple volcanic rocks as we kept flying around near a volcano. I did a barrel roll and fired lasers at one of his Arwings wings. "Come on, bird boy... come try to pull a Tracer on me. I won't play Mercy on you." I said.
As we flew away from the volcano, False Falco jumped out of his Arwing with Falco's Trophy in his arms! "What the hell!?" I said. False Falco landed on top of my Arwing and tried to break the entrance with his Blaster and Reflector. I quickly flew up out of orbit with him and then saw both Fox and Samus's ships quickly fly after me. "Just hang on, Tay! We got you!" said Samus. As we flew out of orbit, we saw the rest of the ships coming towards us; but we quickly got out of their ways. "You wanna play? Fine, let's play. But we're playing this game my way!" I said as I cloaked my Arwing in light. He blocked his eyes and jumped off my Arwing. As he did, he let go of Falco's Trophy; leaving it floating in space! I jumped out of my Arwing and made an unbreakable face mask and air tank on my back; connecting it to my mask, and began fighting False Falco. Samus and Fox looked out and saw Falco's Trophy flying in space, and Fox quickly flew upto it; trying to grab it. "Fox wait!" said Samus worriedly. As he got close to it; he saw a flash of light come towards him and Falco's Trophy began to glow! "Wait a second... that's Falco's Arwing! How did it get here!?" said Fox in shock.
After the glowing stopped, Falco's Arwing opened and Falco jumped inside his Arwing; closing the entrance, and seeing his False self. "Hey Fox, it's been awhile." said Falco. "Falco!? How did you do that!?" Fox replied in shock. "Wake myself up? I don't know... I just did. And hey, thanks for taking care of Pigma and Andrew for me." Falco replied. Fox smiled happily at his old friend and then turned to me; seeing False Falco still alive. Falco flew down to me and shot lasers at his False self. "Hands off my friend!" Falco yelled. I turned to my right and saw Falco in his Arwing for the first time. "Falco! How did you wake yourself up?" I said. "I'll tell you later, but right now... we gotta deal with this creep! Get back in that Arwing... I got an idea!" Falco replied. I nodded my head in understanding and got back in my Arwing; closing the entrance and made my mask and air tank disappear. "Star Fox, form up! Falco, you take over!" said Fox. "You got it! Time for a little payback!" Falco replied. We flew towards False Falco at full speed; shooting lasers at him at the same time. Once I got close to him, I used my light energy to replace the lasers, attacked and watched False Falco fall to his demise. "Yeah! They did it!" Slippy cheered. Peppy and General Pepper smiled proudly as they saw our ships fly upto our Great Fox; knowing now that our foe is defeated.
Inside the Great Fox
The five of us walked inside to the main area and saw our teammates turn to us. "Hey, they're back! Nice work out there guys!" said Link happily. "Thanks." Falco replied. "It's good to see you again, Falco." said Zelda. "It's good to see you again too, Princess Zelda." Falco replied as he bowed to her; showing her his respect. "Excellent work, Fox. you and friends stopped False Falco and his cohorts from causing a new Lylat War. I congratulate you all on your successful mission." said General Pepper. "Thank you, General." Fox replied. Falco, Samus, and I nodded our heads in thanks and General Pepper ended the call. After that, Fox and the rest of the group began telling Falco about everything that has been going on. As they did, I walked back to my Arwing and took out my Slate. "Okay... now let's you to the Tracker and get the hell out of-" I said and as I stopped in front of my tracks; staring at someone in shock. "Hey Tay, long time no see." said the voice. "Melissa!?" I said in shock.
She walked upto me and saw the surprised look on my face while glaring at me. "What the hell are you doing here!? Aren't you supposed to be at the Base!?" I said. She gave me a good slap on the face; making me step back and hide my left cheek with my left hand in pain. "What the hell is wrong with you!? Why did you jump out of that thing in Space!? You could've died!" she yelled. "Hey... I made myself a mask and air tank to survive out there during the fight." I replied calmly. "I don't care what you did! That was one the dumbest things you have ever done! Honestly, I thought that you would be smarter when it comes to Outer Space... did you even remember what I said to you before you left for this journey?" she replied. "Don't do anything stupid..." I replied. "And what did you do?" she replied. I blinked my eyes and lowered my head in defeat; letting her know that she was right. "That's what I thought. Come on, let's head back to the others. They're going to need you." she replied as she began walking away. I followed her lead and saw the group looking at me; wondering what just happened.
"You talked some sense into her, didn't you?" said Sheik. They knew she was here!? And they didn't even tell me!? I'm going to make them pay for this. "Sure did. Even had to slap her face to make her senses come back to her." Melissa replied. "Seriously!? I can't believe I missed that!" Link replied. "Do you want to be next?" Sheik asked him. "N-no..." he replied worriedly. I blinked my eyes, handed them the Slate, and walked away silently to one of the co-pilot seats. "Oh shit... I think you went a little too far on her, Meliss." said Falco. "How hard did you slap her?" Samus asked her. "I... I don't know. But, now that I think of it... it reminds me of the guy she was with before Roy. He ex was very abusive to her when they were together. I never understood why; but it made her afraid to open up to anyone for a while." Melissa replied. "So when you did that to her... it brought those memories back." said Link. She sadly nodded her head yes; now knowing what she had done. "Has she told Roy about it?" Zelda asked her. She shook her head no to her question.
The group looked at me silently and watched Pikachu, Pichu, and the baby Metroids walk and float over to me; trying to comfort me. Link, Zelda, and Melissa slowly walked upto me and knelt down in front of me. I looked down at them and they saw tears fall on my face. "Tay..? I'm so sorry that I did that to you. I wasn't thinking of my actions towards you. I was just so focused of letting out my feelings to what you have done; but I didn't know that my anger would lead to this, and bring back those dark memories of you and your ex. I was so selfish and disrespectful towards you. Can you ever forgive me?" said Melissa. I blinked my eyes, thought about what she had said, and then nodded my head yes; forgiving her and her actions. The two of us stood up and hugged each other. Zelda and Link stood up and hugged us too; making me lightly smile. "Hey, if there is anything that bothers and upsets you; don't be afraid to come up and talk to us. We're all here for you... always." said Link. "Thank you." I replied softly as a tear fell.
We all let go of each other and then Link wrapped his arm around my shoulder in a brotherly way; lightly laughing happily. I lightly smiled and laughed happily with him too. "Tay?" said Melissa. "Hm?" I replied. "Can you promise me something?" she asked me. "Sure. What is it?" I replied. "Promise me that you will tell Roy everything about your last relationship." she replied. My eyes widened in shock to her promise and I felt my pride and confidence shatter a bit. I turned away from her and lowered. "Tay... you and Roy have been together for almost four years now, and you two are always honest with each other and tell each other everything. I understand everytime you think about that part of your past, it hurts you mentally; but don't you think it would be easier to talk to him about it?" she said. I looked back at her and thought about what she said.
To be honest, she is right; I haven't been completely honest with Roy when it comes to talking about the past. Everytime he asks me about my last relationship, I always try to change the subject and talk about something else; leaving him curious all the time. Man... I really feel like a total jerk to him for hiding that dark part of my life away from him. I always felt guilt eating me alive everytime I pushed the topic away. I guess... the truth is I'm truly afraid to tell him about it. Maybe I'm just afraid of how he will react when I tell him the whole story. As I thought about it, I knew that I can't hide from the past anymore. I have to tell him about it, no matter how much it hurts. "Tay? Do you promise me?" Melissa asked me again. "Yeah... I promise. I can't run and hide from that part of the past anymore. I will tell him all about it, no matter how much it hurts." I replied. She smiled warmly at me and gave me a friendly punch on my shoulder. "Now there's the Taylor I truly know." she said. We lightly laughed happily together and then heard the Slate beeping.
"What's up?" I asked Fox as we walked up. "The Slate... it picked up two Trophy signals." Fox replied. "Two... that hasn't happened in a while... who do we got?" I asked again. "Marth... and Lucina... and the location they're at is Marth's Castle in Altea." Fox replied. Once Melissa heard Marth's name, her eyes widened in shock and held onto my arm; making me turn to her. "Is this why you came here? For you to rescue Marth with us..?" I asked her. She nodded her head yes to my question. "But why? It's too dangerous for her to go with us..." Falco replied. "Because she's dating him." I replied. "What!?" said Zelda, Samus, and Sheik in shock. "Wait, what do you mean she's dating him!? Isn't he supposed to be married to Caeda?" said Link. "He was... but the marriage didn't last very long. She wanted him to stop going to the Smash Bros. tournaments ever since the last one; wanting him to stay and rule Altea with her-" Melissa replied. "But he always kept getting letters to come back and compete. They fought about it a few times and then came to a mutual decision: they get divorced, but still can rule Altea together." I added.
"Damn... how long have you known about this?" said Samus. "She's known about it for three years now." Melissa replied. "Three years!? You mean to tell me that Marth was single in the first year of the fourth tournament!?" Zelda asked. Melissa and I nodded our heads yes to her question. "Anyways... you said the location is Marth's Castle?" said Falco. "Uh... yeah! According to the Trophy Slate: Marth and Lucina's Trophies are inside Marth's Castle. And if Melissa's going to help us; she's going to need some people to protect her." Fox replied. "Sheik, Zelda, Link, and I will protect her." I said. Fox nodded his head in understanding and then sent the coordinates to the rest of the team. "Everyone ready? Next stop, Altea!" I said. After that, the Ships went through the portal; heading to Altea.
Thank you so much for reading Chapter 20 of the story! Well, this one was interesting... I think the ending of this Chapter was one of the hardest parts to write; especially with our main heroine's little backstory of her past relationship before she got together with Roy. I just started writing down the part in Roy's Chapter of how he will react to it, and I'll let out a little spoiler for it: there will be alot of crying, hugging, kissing, and words of comfort from him to tell her. He is the light in her heart and the fire in her soul as she is to him, and he will do anything to comfort her and make all her tears go away. Anyways, thank you so much for reading and have an awesome day!
Next time, Chapter 21: Marth & Lucina (Royal Blood). The team arrives at the Kingdom of Altea and encounter False Marth & Lucina at Marth's Castle. How will handle these two as they protect the Kingdom? Find out in Chapter 21!